Practice question · True or false
A spontaneous process must always increase the entropy of the system itself.
Hints
- The second law constrains the universe, not the system in isolation.
- Water freezing is spontaneous below zero and its entropy falls.
Show the answer
False
Why
False, only the entropy of the universe must rise. Freezing, crystallisation and biological assembly all lower the system’s entropy while releasing enough heat to raise the surroundings’ entropy by more.
Practise Entropy and the Second Law
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